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Editor’s Note: With the cancellations of community events due to COVID-19, The News-Herald’s calendar listings will begin with events happening Aug. 1. The ongoing monthly events will also be listed. Before attending an event, contact the organizers to find out if it has been cancelled.

The celebration commemorates Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem 2,000 years ago, when his followers laid palm fronds on the road in his path. On this day, Christian churches, particularly Catholic, distribute palm fronds, which the faithful wave as a symbol of Jesus’ victory. Many people fold them into cross shapes to remind them of the historical events of the Easter season. And each year, the previous year’s dry palms are ceremonially burned.

But because of the coronavirus pandemic, Christians are forced to celebrate Holy Week at a distance this year.

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As the virus continues to spread in rapid numbers, the state is in a holding pattern that stretches through the Holy Week of Palm Sunday, April 5, through Easter Sunday, April 12.

This screen capture from a video on YouTube shows how to fold a palm frond into a cross. (Archdiocese of Denver)

Shortly after Gov. Gretchen Whitmer passed the “stay home, stay safe” order, Archbishop Allen Vigneron of the Archdiocese of Detroit shared a statement that Catholic churches will be closed in cooperation with the governor's order.

Easter Week is the holiest holiday on the Christian calendar, in which worshippers come together to pray and celebrate the resurrection of their savior, Jesus Christ. Easter Sunday is preceded by a week of traditions and rituals.

Thousands of Christian faithful have no option other than to watch Holy Week traditions play out on their TVs and digital screens as they livestream services at their homes.

Bishop Foley Catholic High School’s religious studies teacher, Kenneth Pullis, doesn’t recall the church ever having to shut their doors like this.

“We’d probably have to go back to the Spanish Flu of 1918,” he says. “I'm not sure public liturgies have ever been closed in this way, even during the H1N1 outbreak in 2009. This is pretty extraordinary.”

Pullis explains that Catholics have three main focuses during the 40 days of Lent, leading up to the start of Holy Week on Palm Sunday — praying, fasting and giving.

Under the current circumstances there are still ways of incorporating those three focuses for the Easter season.

“Giving up church isn’t something a lot of people are happy about, but it’s a necessary measure which is done in the spirit of charity,” he says. “We are staying home to help society and one another and to protect ourselves and our most vulnerable.”

During this time at home, Pullis says it's giving Catholics the Lenten experience and opportunity to pray more, make sacrifices and consider others.

In uncertain times, it’s not unusual to look for a silver lining. According to Pullis, one large reason why people say they don’t pray is lack of time. But with most people being homebound, more pockets of free time have opened up.

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“This can be an invitation or opportunity to pray more and have quiet time to develop and increase your relationship with God,” he says.

Pullis, who has been teaching religious studies at Bishop Foley for 12 years, says despite the stay-at-home orders, he is able to keep in touch with students through online programs and social media. The high school issues a Chromebook to each student at the beginning of the school year, so students have been able to keep up with their school work online.

Troy residents Lea Wojciechowski-Ross and her husband, Josh, were looking forward to celebrating Easter for the first time with their 10-month-old son, Xavier. The new parents have changed their plans to celebrate a bit differently than they hoped.

“I think in a way it would be harder if Xavier were older,” Lea says. “How would we teach him the importance of church when we aren’t going anywhere and watching Mass on TV? That would be more challenging.”

They are keeping focused on the domestic church inside their home by live streaming Mass every day through their home parish, St. Anastasia Catholic Church in Troy.

Another concern of many Catholics is their inability to receive certain sacraments, such as the Eucharist — consecrated bread and wine transubstantiated into the body and blood of Jesus Christ, and distributed in Holy Communion during Mass — and Reconciliation, the confession of sins.

Many churches are offering live streaming and virtual opportunities to watch Sunday mass and continue being part of the community. Photos by Lea Wojciechowski-Ross

While the Eucharist is not available, St. Anastasia Church continues to offer Reconciliation at 6 p.m. Tuesdays at The Gathering Space, rather than inside confessionals.

According to Wojciechowski-Ross, certain prayers can be said in place of the Eucharist during this time, such as the Act of Spiritual Communion prayer or the Act of Contrition prayer.

“It’s terrible and wonderful at the same time,” she says. “It’s awful and heartbreaking for priests to preside at Mass when the church is empty, but it’s wonderful that we even have the option to livestream. I hope it’s an opportunity for people who don’t come to church that are watching to be inspired to come back to church when this is all over.”

Wojciechowski-Ross is unsure what Easter Sunday will bring this year. Through the use of technology, it may be a conference call via Skype or Zoom to pray together and have dinner with family.

“People are social creatures,” she says. “People need people, which is why social isolation is really hard. I hope it will have a positive impact as far as having an appreciation toward the church.”